Desperation Road

Desperation Road (2023) is adapted from Michael Farris Smith's novel, a dark rural story set in Mississippi. Russell comes home after eleven years in prison. His father takes him back; the town does not. The brothers of the boy who died in the crash that put him away are still there, and they have been waiting. At the same time a woman named Maben is on the road with her small daughter. She has no money and nowhere to sleep, and one night something happens. After that their paths cross and both of their pasts come after them at once. The film's strength is refusing to place revenge on the correct side. Russell's crime was real, having served his sentence does not clear him, and the brothers pursuing him are not wrong. Nobody is right and nobody is entirely wrong either. Mel Gibson plays the father and has few scenes. The film uses him for the poster; he is not the centre of it. Willa Fitzgerald and Garrett Hedlund carry it. It is Nadine Crocker's first film as director. She was known as an actor. It runs 112 minutes. Good for: rural crime drama, book adaptations, and slow thrillers. Less good for: it contains sexual violence, gun violence and a child in danger. The tone is heavy and dark throughout.